1
The Wagner-Song Munkwa Project and Its Legacy in the Research of Korean History1
Sun Joo Kim (Harvard University)
As Carter Eckert is quoted as saying in the obituary of Edward W. Wagner (1924–2001) in The
Harvard Gazette,2 Wagner’s work “transformed our understanding of late pre-modern Korean
institutions and society and laid the groundwork for all subsequent studies of Korean history.”
Wagner did so, most importantly, through his use of higher civil service examination rosters
(munkwa pangmok) and family genealogies (chokpo), both of which make up a large part of the
Korean rare book collection at the Harvard-Yenching Library. When Wagner started using both
these sources for his research and, in the former case, started computerizing them, almost no
scholar in Korea paid serious attention to them except for his longtime academic partner Song
Jun-ho (1922–2003). This chapter introduces the Wagner-Song Munkwa Project (hereafter the
Munkwa Project), the foremost scholarly project of Wagner’s career, shows how my research
has utilized genealogical records and the Munkwa database, and describes the kinds of
discoveries I have made through the foundation that Wagner laid down for us. Although the
Munkwa Project was a collaborative work between Wagner and Song, I only mention Wagner in
what follows because the purpose of this chapter is to honor his academic work and legacy.
1 This paper was prepared for the conference “Studies in Chosŏn Korea: A Conference
Commemorating the Work of Prof. Edward W. Wagner,” organized by Asian & Near Eastern
Languages Korea Section at the Brigham Young University, March 27–28, 2018, and was
updated May 14, 2019. An earlier version of this paper titled “Edward W. Wagner and His
Legacy: Toward New Horizons in the Research of Korean History,” was presented as Special
Lecture for the Celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Edward W. Wagner’s Appointment,
organized by Harvard’s Korea Institute, September 29, 2008. 2 Ken Gewertz, “Edward Wagner Dies at 77,” in The Harvard Gazette (December 17, 2001). See
on-line Gazette archive at: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-
edward-wagner-dies-at-77/ (accessed on June 27, 2018).
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-edward-wagner-dies-at-77/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2001/12/harvard-gazette-edward-wagner-dies-at-77/
2
The Munkwa Project: A Brief History and Its Findings
Munkwa, the higher civil service examinations, were the primary means of recruiting officials for
major central and provincial government posts during the Chosŏn dynasty (1392–1910). Wagner
launched the Munkwa Project in 1966, in collaboration with the late Song Jun-ho and with
support from the Harvard-Yenching Institute, Harvard’s Korea Institute, and other
organizations.3 In a paper prepared for the 1976 meeting of the Social Science History
Association, Wagner notes that the Munkwa Project is “an attempt to define and characterize the
political-social elite component” of the Chosŏn dynasty “by analysis of the 14,600 men who
passed the higher civil service examination.”4 The “Statement of the Munkwa Project” submitted
to the Harvard-Yenching Institute on January 5, 1998 also states that the purpose of the project
was “a thorough investigation of the elite structure of the whole Chosŏn dynasty” and
“producing a comprehensive and well-organized roster of those elites,” primarily by
computerizing data related to more than 14,600 men who passed the munkwa during the Chosŏn
dynasty, as well as their close relatives.5
Raw data for the Munkwa Project come from several sources—most importantly, from a
number of different editions of the Kukcho munkwa pangmok (Comprehensive Munkwa Rosters
of the Chosŏn Dynasty) and from individual pangmok, the lists of successful candidates of a
particular civil service examination. They contain vital information for most munkwa passers
3 For a brief history of the Munkwa Project and its status after the two researchers Wagner and
Song passed away in 2001 and 2003 respectively, see Song Man-O, “The Wagner-Song Munkwa
Project: Its Value for Historical Research,” Chŏnbuk sahak 32 (2008): 205–10. 4 Edward W. Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty Korean Elites,” paper prepared
for the meeting of the Social Science History Association, Philadelphia, October 29–31, 1976,
available at the Gateway to Premodern Korean Studies:
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gpks/wagner-papers (accessed on July 3, 2018). 5 Song June-ho and Edward W. Wagner, “Statement of the Munkwa Project” (January 5, 1998),
Edward W. Wagner Personal Archive, 1942–1998, HUM 243, Harvard University Archives,
Box 2, folder 17.
https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gpks/wagner-papers
3
throughout the Chosŏn period, including each passer’s name and clan seat, courtesy name, year
of birth and death, status before the exam, positions held after the exam, residence, names of
three paternal ancestors, and marriage relationship, including father-in-law’s name and clan seat.
The genealogies often provide additional data on a candidate’s career, marriage relationships,
residence, and scholarly membership in the course of relating the candidate to others of the
lineage who played a significant role in Korea before and after the candidate’s own time. The
value of genealogies in verifying and augmenting information concerning the munkwa passers
cannot be overemphasized because Wagner estimated that about 90 percent of the munkwa
degree-holders could be located in genealogies. Other sources include munkwa graduates’
genealogies called munbo, local gazetteers (ŭpchi), and a variety of obituary documents.6
Wagner used the information obtained from these sources to develop the database known
as the Munkwa Project, which was designed to allow more than thirty different kinds of
information to be entered for each successful candidate. When he initiated the project in 1966,
computer technology required vastly different methodology and procedures than is the case
today, including creating a coding system, key-punching computer cards, assigning meaningful
numbers, and so forth. In the report on the project made to the twenty-second annual meeting of
the Association for Asian Studies in 1970, Wagner explains the processes he used to computerize
data extracted from the rosters and other primary sources, and how he had solved various
difficulties he encountered. He provides a number of sample images concerning his project—in
particular, data related to the successful munkwa candidate Yun Hyoson (1431–1503), whose
6 Concerning sources for the project, see Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty
Korean Elites,” 2–3.
4
assigned identification number was 0947—to illuminate the complexity of the project.7 In the
aforementioned 1976 paper as well, Wagner discusses how he resolved encoding issues
regarding Chinese characters, Chinese character variation in Korean personal names and place
names, and cyclical dates.8 Although a number of different editions of database printouts became
available from the 1970s on, one of the end results of the Munkwa Project was a commercially
available website named “Wagner & Song Munkwa Roster of the Chosŏn Dynasty” developed
by Dongbang Media, which allowed users to search and trace data and get the results in the blink
of an eye (as of July 2018, however, the website seems no longer to be available).
By the mid-1970s, Wagner had begun to publish a number of important findings from the
Munkwa Project.9 Most notably, he emphasized the relative openness of the munkwa, which
resulted in a “marked diversity” in the composition of the Chosŏn elite and thereby contributed
to the stability of the system and the longevity of the Chosŏn dynasty. In relation to the northern
provinces in particular, he found that due to the openness of the system, “many ambitious lineage
groups in the north were striving to acquire the education and emulate the life-style of the
southern yangban.”10
Indeed, northerners in the late Chosŏn period became very successful in
obtaining the munkwa degree, to the extent that they outnumbered their southern counterparts.
A close analysis of the distribution of successful candidates from the northern provinces
reveals that P’yŏngan Province produced almost 70 percent of the north’s successful candidates
from about 50 percent of the total population of the north. More interestingly, a few places
7 Edward W. Wagner, “A Computer Study of Yi Dynasty Civil Examination Rosters,” a paper
read at the 22nd Annual Meeting, Association for Asian Studies, San Francisco, California (April
3, 1970). I consulted a copy in the Harvard-Yenching Library.
8 Wagner, “Quantification and Study of Yi Dynasty Korean Elites,” 3–6.
9 See Edward W. Wagner, “The Ladder of Success in Yi Dynasty Korea,” Occasional Papers on
Korea 1 (Apr. 1974): 1–8, and idem, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven: The
Case of the Northern Provinces in the Yi Dynasty,” Korea Journal 17.1 (Jan. 1977): 22–27. 10
Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 26.
5
within each northern province show a heavy concentration of successful passers. For example,
Haeju and P’yŏngsan in Hwanghae, Hamhŭng and Anbyŏn in Hamgyŏng, and P’yŏngyang and
Chŏngju in P’yŏngan Province boasted a remarkable concentration of successful candidates. The
success of candidates from the town of Chŏngju, just north of the Ch’ŏngch’ŏn River in
P’yŏngan Province, was most striking. Chŏngju, whose population was less than 4 percent of
P’yŏngan and less than 2 percent of the total population of the northern provinces, produced 282
successful candidates—27 percent of the P’yŏngan total, and 18.7 percent of the overall northern
total.11
What are the social and political implications of the northerners’ phenomenal success in
the munkwa? Although Wagner acknowledged that northerners were discriminated against in
their bureaucratic advancement at the central court, he concluded that “the longevity of the Yi
dynasty is substantially owed to its ability to ensure physical and psychological contentment in
the lives of all major components of its population, not merely to a favored few.”12
However, in
light of northerners’ success in obtaining the munkwa degree, the connection between the
openness of the munkwa and the longevity of the dynasty requires further examination. One
critical weakness of Wagner’s thesis becomes apparent when we consider the Hong Kyŏngnae
Rebellion of 1812, whose geographical base was northern P’yŏngan Province, with Chŏngju
County as the rebels’ stronghold. Why did this large-scale anti-dynastic rebellion break out in the
place that produced so many munkwa degree-holders in the late Chosŏn dynasty? Wagner
11
Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 24. For in-depth discussion of
regional discrimination against the northerners, see Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in
Korea: The Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion of 1812 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2007);
and Sun Joo Kim, “Introduction: Thinking Through Region,” in Sun Joo Kim, ed., The Northern
Region of Korea: History, Identity, and Culture (Seattle & London: University of Washington
Press, 2010), 3–17. 12
Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 27.
6
suggested that the munkwa had the effect of creating stability in society. Did the munkwa degree-
holders participate in the rebellion? If not, what were their attitudes toward the rebellion?
Complicating the Link between the Civil Service Examinations and the Stability of the
Chosŏn Dynasty
My own research on the Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion has found no clear evidence that verifies the
participation of any munkwa degree-holder in the rebellion. As Table 1 shows, however, there
were quite a few cases in which close relatives of munkwa degree-holders did lend a hand to the
rebel leadership. For example, a government report shows that Kim Iksu (?–1812), the rebel
army’s chief commander of Kasan County, was Kim Sŏkt’ae’s (1764–?) youngest uncle.13
Searching the on-line Wagner & Song Munkwa Roster using the name “Kim Sokt’ae” in Korean
as the search word produced the information that (1) Kim Sokt’ae passed the munkwa in 1790; (2)
this Kim family’s clan seat is Sunch’on; and (3) they resided in Kasan, in northern P’yŏngan
Province. The genealogy for the Sunch’on Kim of Kasan lists Kim Sŏkt’ae and Kim Iksu just a
few pages apart.14
Further examination of the two sources, the munkwa database and the
genealogy, reveals that Kim Iksu—a rebel who died inside the walled town of Chŏngju while he
was resisting the government campaign—was a younger brother of Kim Kŏnsu (1790–1854),
who passed the munkwa in 1762. As Figure 1 shows, the family that descended from Kim Iksu’s
great grandfather produced nine munkwa passers in the late Chosŏn period––a remarkable
accomplishment.
13
Kwansŏ p’yŏngnallok [The Record of the Pacification Campaign of the Hong Kyŏngnae
Rebellion], 5 vols., edited by Han’gukhak munhŏn yŏn’guso (Seoul: Asea munhwasa, 1979), 3:
123. 14
Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo [The Genealogy of the Sunch’ŏn Kim,
Ch’ŏrwŏngong Branch] (Seoul: Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a poso, 1980), 680–94.
7
In an ordinary genealogy, Kim Iksu’s name would not appear because he was a “traitor.”
The reason his name was recorded in this genealogy is most likely his grandson Kim Yu’s later
success in the munkwa in 1849. Sometime after the rebellion, Kim Iksu’s name must have been
cleared from the list of rebels, given that so many of his close blood associations earned the glory
of a munkwa degree after his disastrous involvement in the 1812 incident. A biographical essay
on Kim Sŏkt’ae in the genealogy testifies that Kim Sŏkt’ae was wealthy and played a key role in
feeding hunger-stricken people of Kasan County during the post-rebellion period.15
This
benevolent act probably helped the family erase the terrible memory of its affiliation with the
rebel side from popular memory as well as from public and private records.
Table 1. Munkwa Degree-Holders and Rebels
Name
(Residence)
Relation to the degree-holder Role played in the
rebellion
Kim Iksu
(Kasan)
Kim Sŏkt’ae’s (munkwa in 1790) uncle and
Kim Kŏnsu’s (munkwa in 1762) younger
brother
Chief commander of
Kasan
Kim Kukpŏm
or Ch’angbae
(Kwaksan)
His brother, Kim Ch’angje, passed the
munkwa in 1810
Strategist, and a
member of the
vanguard cavalry
Kim Sayong
(T’aech’ŏn)
Kim Ch’ijŏng’s (munkwa in 1783) remote
relative. Kim Ch’ijŏng was a candidate for
magistrate of T’aech’ŏn under the rebel
administration; Kim Sŏkt’ae of Kasan
(munkwa in 1790) was the father-in-law of
Kim Ch’ijŏng’s daughter
One of the core leaders
Kim Namch’o
(Chŏngju)
His son, Kim Insu, passed the munkwa in
1819
Supervised military
affairs under the rebels,
but fled after four days
Kye Namsim
(Sŏnch’ŏn)
His grandfather, Kye Tŏkhae, passed the
munkwa in 1774
As a master of occult
arts, devised a strategy
to occupy Ŭiju
Sŭng Ilsul
(Chŏngju)
Sŭng Ido’s (munkwa in 1675) close relative,
and Sŭng Kyŏnghang’s (munkwa in 1786)
Granary supervisor
15
Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo, 70.
8
close relative
Sŭng
Chŏnghang
(Chŏngju)
Sŭng Ryun’s (munkwa in 1774) remote
relative
Rebel military officer
Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 62–63.
Figure 1. Kim Iksu and Munkwa Degree-Holders from His Immediate Family
Kŭkch’ung––Ch’angsŏn––*Hongjip
(1744)
Ch’anghu–––Koengjip––*Kŏnsu––*Sŏkt’ae–––Kyŏng–*Suin
(1762) (1790) (1855)
Chu–––*Sugan
(1853)
*Chun––Suhŏn–Yong–*Ch’angwŏn
(1840) (1885)
Sŏngri––––*Hyŏn
(1849)
Ch’isu
Iksu–––––Sŏkchŏm––*Yu (1867)
* Munkwa degree-holder, with the year of the degree in parentheses
Source: Sunch’ŏn Kim ssi Ch’ŏrwŏngong-p’a sebo, 669–98 and 760.
In addition to cases such as those of Kim Iksu and others shown in Table 1, two munkwa
passers, Paek Kyŏnghae (1765–1842) and Han Houn (1761–1812), seem to have been initially
sympathetic to the rebel side but changed their position later on.16
Furthermore, a number of
lower civil service exam degree-holders, military exam degree-holders, and former officials who
held centrally appointed posts participated in the rebellion.17
These facts cast doubt on the
stabilizing role presumably played by the civil service examinations.
16
Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 57–60. 17
Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 61–65.
9
If no munkwa passers supported the rebellion outright, were any of them actively
involved in putting down the rebellion, either by mobilizing militia forces or donating material
resources to the government side? Existing sources do not lend this much support. The central
court recognized the so-called six loyal subjects from the region—Han Houn, Paek Kyŏnghan
(?–1812), Che Kyŏnguk (1760–1812), Hŏ Hang (?–1812), Kim Taet’aek (?–1812), and Im
Chihwan (?–1812)—who died during the battle or were killed by the rebels for various reasons.
They were solemnly enshrined in the P’yojŏlsa (Temple of Illuminating Loyalty) after the
rebellion. Of these six, only Han Houn was a munkwa passer, and one other, Paek Kyŏnghan,
was the brother of Paek Kyŏnghae, a munkwa degree-holder. Im Chihwan, a descendant of a
military commander who died during the Manchu invasion in the early seventeenth century, was
a local scholar from Anju, P’yŏngan Province, who had been pursuing Confucian scholarship
when he volunteered to fight against the rebels. Che Kyŏnguk, who was from Seoul, had held a
minor provincial post and was a descendant of a war hero from the time of the Japanese invasion
in the late sixteenth century. The other two of the six loyalists were local military men at the
time.18
Table 2. Militia Leaders during the 1812 Hong Kyŏngnae Rebellion
Name Residence Occupation or Social status
Ch’a Kyŏngjin Sŏnch’ŏn Former Changnyŏng (third inspector of the Office
of the Inspector General), munkwa in 1789
An Myŏngryŏl Anju Local yangban (hyangin)
Kang Inhak Ch’angsŏng Kwŏn’gwan (outpost officer, Jr. 9)
Pak Taegwan Ch’ŏrsan Literary licentiate degree-holder (chinsa)
Kim Kukch’u Ch’ŏrsan Hallyang (military man without a post)
Ham Ŭihyŏng Hŭich’ŏn Hallyang
Song Chiryŏm Kanggye Yangban scholar (sain)
18
For more detailed discussion on these six loyalists, see Kim, Marginality and Subversion in
Korea, 148–49.
10
Kye Unhae Kanggye Hallyang
Kim Chonguk Kilchu Hallyang
Kang Chip Kwaksan Chwasu (director of local yangban association)
Wŏn Yŏngjŏng Kwaksan Hallyang
Kim Chihwan Kusŏng Former Manho (sub-area commander)
Kim Kyŏngno Pyŏktong Yangban scholar
Yi Sibok T’aech’ŏn Yangban scholar
Ch’oe Sinyŏp Ŭiju Military officer
Hong Yŏil Ŭiju Former Ch’ŏmsa (army second deputy commander)
Chŏng Naehong Ŭiju Yŏngjang (chief commander)
Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 150.
Table 2 is a list of prominent militia leaders who mobilized troops, joined the government
campaign against the rebels, and were later recognized by the central court. Most of them were
local elites who were pursuing either Confucian scholarship or a military career, and they
included only one munkwa passer, Ch’a Kyŏngjin from Sŏnch’ŏn (first row).
What about those who donated material resources to help out the government side? As
Table 3 illustrates, munkwa passers did not chip in much. An Sagwon’ son An Kŭbin (?–1772),
from a very remote county, Pyŏktong, passed the munkwa, but only after the rebellion, in 1815.
Table 3. Donors to the Government Camp
Name (Residence) Social status Amount Reward
Hong Tŭkchu (Ŭiju) Confucian scholar
(yuhak)
1,218 sŏm of grain
and 5,200 yang
Entry-level office
Ch’a Hyŏnggi
(Sukch’ŏn)
Local yangban
(hyangin)
2,000 yang Military office in
border region
Pak Kyŏng (Anju) Local yangban 1,500 yang and 8
sŏm of grain
Military office in
border region
Kim Kyŏngjung
(Anju)
1,000 yang Pondo chŏllang
(local post)
Ch’a Hyŏnggyu
(Sukch’ŏn)
Literary licentiate
degree-holder
(chinsa)
30 sŏm of grain, 35
yang, and 7 cows
Provincial award as
wished
11
An Sagwŏn
(Pyŏktong)
Local yangban,
father of An Kŭbin
(munkwa 1815), and
grandfather of An
Kyohŭi (munkwa
1854)
100 sŏm of rice Provincial award as
wished
Kye Chinhŭng
(Chŭngsan)
Military officer 20 cows Provincial award as
wished
Yi Hyŏnt’aek
(Sakchu)
Hallyang 15 sŏm of rice and
10 cows
Provincial award as
wished
Source: Sun Joo Kim, Marginality and Subversion in Korea, 151.
To further contextualize these findings, Table 4 shows the number of munkwa passers
from P’yongan Province throughout the Chosŏn period. From this table, we know that there were
hundreds of munkwa passers from P’yongan Province from the late eighteenth century to the
1812 rebellion, many of whom might have been alive at the time of the rebellion. To make the
numbers make more sense, the total number of P’yŏngan people who passed the munkwa from
1770 to 1811 was 126. From Chŏngju alone, which was the rebels’ stronghold, there were 78
munkwa passers in the same forty-year period, and we can assume that many of them were alive
at the time of the rebellion and resided in the county (see Table 5). Yet very few of them
contributed to putting down the rebellion.
Table 4. Munkwa Passers from Northern and Southern P’yŏngan Province by 50-Year Periods
1392
–
1450
1451
–
1500
1501
–
1550
1551
–
1600
1601
–
1650
1651
–
1700
1701
–
1750
1751
–
1800
1801
–
1850
1851
–
1900
Total
Northern
P’yŏngan
2 3 26 57 160 147 202 597
Southern
P’yŏngan
5 9 8 14 26 47 63 78 85 151 486
Total 5 9 8 16 29 73 120 238 232 353 1083
12
Table 5. Munkwa Passers from Chŏngju by 50-Year Periods
1392
–
1450
1451
–
1500
1501
–
1550
1551
–
1600
1601
–
1650
1651
–
1700
1701
–
1750
1751
–
1800
1801
–
1850
1851
–
1900
Total
Chŏngju 12 26 90 81 73 282
What kind of conclusions can we draw from these data? The munkwa certainly was open
to a relatively large population, including northern literati. Despite social and cultural prejudice
and resultant political discrimination against northern residents, northern residents were not only
allowed to sit for the civil service examinations but did very well on them. Were northern exam
passers and their close relatives, as well as those passers with obscure backgrounds,
unambiguously satisfied with the fact that they had earned the great honor of entering the
pantheon of degree-holders, and did they thus develop a feeling that they were part of the ruling
elite of the dynasty? Was it almost automatic that they pledged their loyalty to the dynasty? Or
were they resentful that their chances of political and bureaucratic advancement were blocked
because of their less prominent pedigrees and their native places of origin? Consequently, would
they have accumulated so much resentment, frustration, and feeling of deprivation—because
their talent was not rewarded in fair ways—that they harbored treasonous thoughts against the
existing rule?
We have a mixed picture from the evidence presented so far. To a large degree, the
relative openness of the munkwa did stabilize the society, fulfilling the ambition and at the same
time neutralizing the anxiety of local elites. Yet, as many social scientists have argued, the
production and existence of a large pool of unemployed educated degree-holding elites is
13
unhealthy for the stability of society, whether or not those marginalized elites directly engage in
subversive activities. Especially when state institutions have been too rigid to absorb aspiring
elites who have therefore suffered financial trouble, marginalized elites have tended to channel
their discontent into open defiance of the state, leading to social and political chaos and,
ultimately, to regime changes.19
In this respect, one of Wagner’s remarks is worth citing. He said, “The importance of this
phenomenon for determining the course Korea took in the period of transition from traditional to
modern society must not be overlooked. In the light of the role of Chŏngju residents in late
traditional Korea, the fact that the famed Osan Chunghakkyo (Osan Middle School) was
established there takes on new meaning.”20
Although Wagner did not elaborate on this point, he
was aware that many people from P’yŏngan Province, Chŏngju and P’yŏngyang in particular,
became leaders of Korea’s modernization by rather swiftly turning their attention to Western
education and Western ideas.21
Such a turn to various modern apparatuses may have sprung from
accumulated frustration and unfulfilled aspiration due to their marginalized status despite their
success in munkwa in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Reconstructing Social Networks of Chosŏn Elite
The munkwa database, combined with other sources such as genealogies, is a useful tool for
reconstructing social networks of Chosŏn elite. An example is the case of Yi Sihang (1672–
19
Jack Goldstone, Revolution and Rebellion in the Early Modern World (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1991). 20
Wagner, “The Civil Examination Process as Social Leaven,” 27. 21
For an examination of exemplary northerners who stood out as pioneers in various emerging
modern sectors, see Kyung Moon Hwang, Beyond Birth: Social Status in the Emergence of
Modern Korea (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2004), 248–89.
14
1736), who passed the munkwa in 1699.22
Yi was a member of the Suan Yi lineage from Unsan
County, located northeast of Chŏngju but a hinterland of northern P’yŏngan Province. The Suan
Yi descent group produced 26 munkwa passers, 23 of whom resided in the northern region.
Among those 23, seven passers hailed from Unsan and belonged to the particular family line
descended from Yi Ŭngjŏn, a sixteenth-century ancestor of Yi Sihang (see Figure 2), confirming
Wagner’s finding that munkwa passers tend to be concentrated within a small segment of a
descent group.23
Figure 2. Munkwa Passers of the Suan Yi Descent Group of Unsan
#Ŭngjŏn––Kyesul––Ch’angbŏn––Chŏnggo–––^Yu
^Yang
#Kyedal––Tongŭi––––Chŏnghan––Siham–––Sŏp––Yongjip––*Ingnyŏl
Kŭp––Ŭijip–––––*Sŭngnyŏl
*Sihang
Yŏngbŏn–#Chŏnghŏn––*#Sihong
^Kim
Kyeson––*Sobŏn–––#Chŏnggil–––Sijŏm––Yu––Chŏnghwi––Song––*#Chibong
––^Hong
#Yong
*Sijae
#Sirim
Kyeun
^Kim
* Munkwa degree-holder
^ Last name of sons-in-law who either held an exam degree or had degree-holders among their
immediate descendants
# Men whose spouse had close relatives who held exam degrees
Source: Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North, 24.
22
The following discussion is based on Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North: Resurrecting
Regional Identity through the Life and Work of Yi Sihang (1672–1736) (Stanford: Stanford
University Press, 2013). 23
Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” paper presented at the World
Conference Records and Genealogical Seminar, Salt Lake City, Utah (August 5–8, 1969), 13.
15
An examination of the Suan Yi’s marriage ties shows that they formed multiple marriage
ties with the Yŏnan Kim of Chŏngju, which produced the highest number of munkwa passers
from Chŏngju—a phenomenal 51 of them. The Paech’on Cho family of Chŏngju, who produced
the second highest number of munkwa passers (29), is also closely related to the Suan Yi by
marriage (see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Marriage Ties among the Suan Yi (Unsan), Yŏnan Kim (Chŏngju), and Paech’ŏn Cho
(Chŏngju) Descent Groups
Kim Samjun
Kim Tŭkchi Kim Ŏkchi Yi Yŏngbŏn *Kim Sŏkchi
Kim Chŏngha Cho Suhyang==D D==Yi Chŏnghŏn Yi Chŏnggil = D Kim Toha
Kim Inman =========== D *Yi Sihong ==== D Kim Chinman
*Kim Munsŏ *Kim Insŏ
7 munkwa passers among Cho Suhyang’s descendants
* Munkwa degree-holder
== marriage relations
D Daughter
Source: Sun Joo Kim, Voice from the North, 32–36.
This is only a representative sample of the emerging social and cultural networks in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries that we can reconstruct from the munkwa database and
genealogies. From this discovery, we learn that the local elite society was very tightly knitted
together through marriage ties. Such close networks must have had a strong bearing on the
16
continued success in the munkwa exam among in-group network members. In addition, as
members of illustrious families, they certainly became leaders in various local matters, including
control of wealth.
Genealogies as Historical Source
One of the premodern sources that Wagner utilized to a great extent as he worked on the
Munkwa Project was family genealogies, the published records of a patrilineal descent structure.
In conventional historical study in Korea, genealogical records have been largely discredited for
their fraudulent content, namely, fabrication of records. Wagner, however, from early on asserted
the usefulness of genealogy as a historical source, as his 1969 essay on genealogies and other
works illustrate.24
In terms of the reliability of genealogy, Wagner points out that “deliberate falsification of
family records was unthinkable to those who took upon themselves the often awesome burden of
compiling and publishing a chokpo.” He continues to say that chokpo prefaces often inform the
reader of the pains taken to research and verify material of doubtful authenticity submitted to a
compilation committee. Basically, he thinks that the chokpo is “a faithful mirror of life” and that
outright forgery is not a serious problem in using chokpo as a source because such cases are
easily discovered upon close examination.25
In the late Chosŏn period, a written, published genealogy was not just a record of a
family’s past and present but an important site of memory—one that defined the status of its
24
Edward W. Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source.” Also see his essay, “Two
Early Genealogies and Women’s Status in Early Yi Dynasty Korea,” in Laurel Kendall and Mark
Peterson, eds., Korean Women: View from the Inner Room (New Haven, Conn.: East Rock Press,
1983), 23–32. 25
Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” 4.
17
commemorators, as well as of the living members of the lineage, at the time of compilation. The
greatness of ancestors, whether invented or not, affected the level of status of their descendants.
A genealogy is clearly a private record, yet its public nature cannot be overlooked.
Genealogy is surely one of many manifestations of the Confucian emphasis on ancestor
worship. Commemoration of ancestors took many forms, such as performing ancestral worship
rituals, compiling genealogy and exam rosters, erecting tomb inscriptions and guardian statues,
dedicating ancestors’ biographies, and publishing ancestors’ literary writings. Yet to view all
these cultural practices, including compiling and publishing genealogies, as simply a way for
elites to fulfill the Confucian value of filial piety is not satisfactory, because only a small fraction
of the people recorded in a family genealogy may have been true practitioners of Confucianism,
including ancestor rituals. Rather, a genealogy was a document that was instrumental in proving
one’s status—yangban elite status in particular—thus qualifying a man for state examinations or
for membership in the local yangban association. If these were the main reasons for genealogical
records, there is one big question that begs an answer: Why does a genealogy retain so many
names?
Although genealogy in general reflects hierarchical patrilineal structure, it also has
egalitarian features because a majority of members share the same kind of entry in a genealogy.
As Wagner mentions, most individuals recorded in a genealogy have plain records of birth and
death year, wife’s family name, and the location of their tomb; a few prominent ancestors, such
as munkwa degree-holders, have more embellished entries; and others have nothing recorded but
their name.26
Why did the compilers use such a format? And why was there a surge in
genealogical compilation and publication in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries? Why were
26
Wagner, “The Korean Chokpo as a Historical Source,” 4–5.
18
certain kinds of people interested in compiling genealogies?
I suggest that we regard the genealogy as an economic document.27
In the late Chosŏn,
military taxation was a heavy financial burden and was also stigmatized as a non-yangban
obligation. Local elites and their extended relatives employed every means possible to avoid
being listed in the military roster. Genealogy provided one useful space for such a purpose. The
function of genealogy or kinship organization evolved as social and economic conditions
changed over time. That is, as the taxation system changed in the late Chosŏn from a per capita
tax based on one’s status into a quota system for certain units of administration, villagers,
including yangban elites, found themselves pressured to meet an assigned amount of taxes.
Genealogical records in this case may have provided a base for sharing the tax levy among
lineage members, who oftentimes lived in the same village, ward, or sub-district area. All of
these factors partly explain the surge in genealogical compilation in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries.
What was the use of the information about the location of ancestral tombs? In Chosŏn
Korea, the forest surrounding a tomb belonged to the descendants of the tomb’s occupants.
Forests yield a number of important resources, including fuel. In light of the increasing number
of litigation cases over forest rights and stealing tomb sites (t’ujang) in the late Chosŏn dynasty,
genealogical records on tomb locations probably provided some proof of ownership of particular
forest lands.28
27
This point is inspired by Michael Szonyi, who has persuasively argued that economic factors
generated strategies of kinship organization in late imperial China, from his examination of the
people of the Fuzhou region in South China. Michael Szonyi, Practicing Kinship: Lineage and
Descent in Late Imperial China (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002). 28
For specific criminal cases involving stealing tomb sites, see Sun Joo Kim and Jungwon Kim,
comp. and trans., Wrongful Deaths: Selected Inquest Records from Nineteenth-Century Korea
(Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2014), 47–54 and 129–203.
19
Lastly, for northern residents, genealogies provided another tool to authenticate their
status origin. Like people of Fuzhou in South China who wanted to fashion their origin from
North China for various reasons, northerners used the genealogical record—its prefaces and
postscripts in particular—as a site in which to encode their origin, explain when and why their
apical ancestors had moved to the place in the north where their descendants had then lived for
centuries, and make connections to their southern brethren.29
In sum, this chapter briefly has examined the history of the Munkwa Project. For a few decades
from the 1960s on, Wagner meticulously read, analyzed, interpreted, and digitized information
found in munkwa rosters and genealogies. There is no doubt that his unparalleled insight and
tireless diligence had a great influence on many students and on their scholarly endeavors. I have
shown a few ways in which my research has utilized the munkwa database to illustrate the link
between the civil service examinations and both dynastic (in)stability as well as elite social
networks. Other contributors to this book also demonstrate the efficacy of the munkwa database
in further understanding the nature of Chosŏn elites and society. As the famous statement in the
Analects says, “If one keeps cherishing one’s old knowledge so as to continually be acquiring
new, one may be a teacher of others.”30
In this way we learn from the past, and on the basis of
that groundwork we advance our knowledge further. The Munkwa Project, the product of an
extraordinary visionary, will continue to inspire and benefit researchers who seek to deepen our
understanding of Chosŏn society and culture.
29
For more discussion on the reliability of northern genealogies, see Sun Joo Kim, Marginality
and Subversion in Korea, 181–84. 30
子曰、溫故而知新、可以為師矣. The Analects, Wei Zheng 11 at:
https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zheng (accessed on July 5, 2018).
https://ctext.org/analects/wei-zheng
20
Character List
changnyŏng 掌令
chinsa 進士
chokpo 族譜
ch’ŏmsa 僉使
chwasu 座首
hallang 閑良
hyangin 鄕人
Kukcho munkwa pangmok 國朝文科榜目
kwŏn’gwan 權官
manho 萬戶
munbo 文譜
munkwa 文科
Osan Chunghakkyo 五山中學校
pankmok 榜目
pondo chŏllang 本道殿廊
sain 士人
sŏm 石
t’ujang 偸葬
ŭpchi 邑誌
yang 兩
yŏngjang 營將
yuhak 幼學